Online Guitar Tools

There are hundreds of sources for tuners, chord and scale finders and diagrams, and alternate tuning guides, but here is one site that has them all nearly all the features you could want (FYI, the homepage links seem to all go to the chord finder, so use the top navigation menu for the tuner and scales pages):

Learning the fretboard will open up the guitar like nothing else for you. Here’s a simple game where you have to find and name notes on different parts of the fretboard. I would play this game for about 5 minutes before starting my main guitar practice, and it really helped me improve. Note: Java must be enabled on your browser in order for this applet to work.

Another excellent tab resource is Guitar Pro, a computer program with several features for learning songs and honing your skills. For more information, see the Software section below.

Care and Maintenance

Knowing the basics of guitar care will keep your instrument looking and playing great, and keep its value high. It will also save you from expensive repair work over time. Bruce Roper of Chicago Luthiers Workshop has an excellent article on guitar TLC, as well as general information on guitar set-up and construction.

It’s easy to forget that playing an instrument is athletic. Bad posture, arm and hand placements—repeated over and over for hundreds of hours—can lead to injuries that completely halt your playing for weeks or months and require medical attention and prolonged physical therapy. Plus, they hurt. The good news is, they are overwhelmingly preventable. Here’s a great video by a former injurée who touches on several ways of keeping yourself healthy, wealthy, and happy

I’ve yet to find an all-ecompasing encyclopedia of famous guitarists’ gear. The best way I’ve found is to simply Google your guitarist of choice and “gear” (or if you have something more specific in mind, specify with words like “guitar”, “strings”, “amp”, “effects”, etc.).

A guitarist’s sound is a complex combination of factors, including picks, strings, pre-amps, amps, effects, and studio manipulation, as well as dozens of characteristics of the guitar itself. Many guitarists have shared some or all of their gear lists, or have come out with their own products.

Contact Jeff

Have a question? Ready to take your first step to guitar mastery right now?

Feel free to contact me personally:

Phone:
(415) 246-9167
Email:
*protected email*

Student & Parent Testimonials

Jeff makes it really easy and fun to learn. It’s fun to talk with him about your musical interest. Overall Jeff is a real nice person in general and he is definitely the guitar teacher of my choice.
Reece S.

Skilled, innovative and accommodating—Jeff knows what he’s doing. I felt my interests and goals were thoroughly understood and attended to, and I found his multi-disciplinary approach of incorporating various learning tools to be very helpful. Worth it.
Matt G.